Australia’s Lindeman Island could soon host a Singaporean resort
Singapore’s globe trotting property investors lead Mingtiandi’s collection of regional headlines today with an investor from the city-state snatching up an island off the coast of Queensland, while India also makes the list with the opening of the country’s first official Apple store in Mumbai promising to please worshippers of pricey tech toys.
Singapore’s Well Smart Buys Aussie Island for Resort Project
Singapore’s Well Smart Group, which own hotels and resorts across Australia, has emerged as the buyer of Lindeman Island, which sold again this month for about A$10 million ($7.53 million). Owned by the Jia family, Well Smart has been a long-term investor and developer of Australian hotels and resorts.
Well Smart director Jack Jia confirmed the group had Lindeman Island under contract and would purchase it subject to the approval of the lease transfer and the deal receiving Foreign Investment Review Board approval. Read more>>
India’s First Apple Store Set to Open in Mumbai
Apple has officially announced its first-ever retail store in Mumbai called ‘Apple BKC’. An official teaser has also surfaced on the Apple India Store website. Apple has revealed the banner of its first retail store in India at Jio World Drive Mall, Mumbai, marking the opening of Apple BKC.
The Apple website reads, “Hello Mumbai. We are getting ready to welcome you aboard our first store in India. And raring to see where your creativity takes you at Apple BKC.” Read more>>
Singapore Property Investment Down 61% in First Quarter
Singapore real estate investments got off to a “slow start” in 2023, with only S$4.2 billion ($3.2 billion) of investment sales recorded in the first three months of the year, according to Knight Frank. This was a decrease of 61 percent compared to the S$10.8 billion recorded in the same period last year.
It is also the lowest quarterly total since the second quarter of 2020, when the government imposed the “circuit breaker” measures at the height of the pandemic. Residential deals amounted to S$1.6 billion during the first quarter of 2023, including the collective sales for Meyer Park, Bagnall Court and Holland Tower that totalled some S$583.8 million. Read more>>
Macau Labour Crunch Shutters Thousands of Casino Rooms
Macau casinos have been forced to close off thousands of hotel rooms and cut back on guest services like housekeeping, as a labour shortage leaves the gambling hub struggling to cater to a surge of tourists from a newly-reopened China.
Some five-star hotels in Macau’s casinos only have fewer than half of their rooms available for booking, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg, asking not to be identified discussing internal business. Read more>>
Boustead Shares Still Suspended in Singapore as Bourse Blocks Buyout
It has been more than a week since trading of shares in Boustead Projects was suspended, and the fate of minority investors who did not accept the lowball offer for the company is still unclear.
On Tuesday, Boustead Projects said that its parent company Boustead Singapore requested it apply for an extension of time from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to comply with Rule 724 of the Listing Manual – which states, among other things, that SGX may allow an issuer a period of three months to restore its public float, after which the issuer may be removed from the official list. Read more>>
Wheelock Launches Tender for $122M Hong Kong Villa
A 7,042 square foot (654 square metre) villa at Mount Nicholson on Hong Kong’s Victoria Peak is up for tender on April 13 and could fetch as much as HK$961.5 million ($122.5 million).
The sale by local developer Wheelock comes at a time of marginal improvement in Hong Kong’s luxury property segment on the back of a full reopening of the city’s and mainland China’s borders, the end of strict Covid-19 restrictions and the stabilisation of interest rates. Read more>>
Return of Chinese Buyers to Aussie Housing Market More Trickle Than Torrent
Chinese buyers are returning to Australia’s property scene as international borders open up again but experts have warned there will not be a torrent of capital to match the apartment boom. The lifting of strict movement controls in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has prompted a surge in international student arrivals and demand for rentals.
But an expected jump in home buying is further down the track as Australia is up against other regional destinations for Chinese buyers, according to equities house CLSA. Read more>>
Parkson Auditor Doubts Retailer’s Ability to Continue as Going Concern
The independent auditor for Parkson Retail Asia has again raised concerns about the ability of the department store retailer to operate as a going concern.
In a bourse filing on Tuesday, the board of Parkson Retail Asia said the independent auditor Foo Kon Tan noted that Parkson Retail Asia’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets by S$19.8 million ($14.9 million) as of 31 December. Read more>>
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